𝐑𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦 | 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐱

𝟐𝟎 | 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

The band held auditions in an attempt to find a new frontman.

Karen : It was a very long day, to say the least.

Eddie : I'd say we went through just about every frontman in California.

Graham : Bonnie and Warren laughed their way through the auditions.

Bonnie : [Laughs] I couldn't do it, man.

Warren : [Laughs] How was I supposed to keep a straight face with BonBon cackling into my shoulder for half of them?

Bonnie : It got to the point where Karen had to ask us to leave.

Karen : Before one of the auditions had even started, Bonnie and Warren just burst into laughter.

Warren : [Shrugs] We got the giggles, man. There was nothing we could do.

Bonnie : We went inside for a few minutes to grab a drink, we couldn't have missed more than two auditions. Once we calmed down, Warren asked me if I thought we'd find anyone.

Warren : Bonnie just shook her head and said 'As much as I hate to admit it, we won't find anyone like Billy,' and that was Bonnie saying it.

Bonnie : I meant it, though, Billy just had a certain onstage charisma that couldn't have been matched by anyone at the time.

Warren : After that, we went back outside for the last few auditions and it turns out Bonnie was right. We didn't find anyone.

Graham : Out of nowhere, Eddie stood up and said we hadn't seen everyone.

Warren : [Chuckles] I thought Eddie was joking, man, but he wasn't.

Bonnie : I mean, fair play to him, Eddie got up there in front of us and sang Flip The Switch. We were a pretty intimidating bunch. You know, once Warren and I got the giggles out of us.

Karen : It wasn't bad.

Graham : There wasn't anyone else left to audition ... or so we thought.

Bonnie : [Sighs] Just after Eddie had finished singing, another guy showed up.

Karen : We didn't think much of it at first.

Eddie : I mean, I was going to turn him away, [gestures to self] we had already found our new frontman.

Warren : We said we'd give this guy a chance.

Karen : We didn't think much of it at first, he was a middle-aged man with a guitar in his hand much like any of the other men that had auditioned that day.

Graham : When we asked for his name, he said it was Rob.

Bonnie : Rob Timberland, to be exact.

Karen : I'm pretty sure we all looked at Bonnie, I mean, Timberland wasn't a common surname.

Eddie : Bonnie shrugged, clearly having never met this guy before.

Warren : I made a joke about having two Timberlands in the band and how that might make things competitive.

Bonnie : Rob reminded us that he would've been playing, and I quote, 'long before any of you would've been able to pick up an instrument.'

Graham : [Chuckles] Bonnie was quick to remind him that we were the ones holding the auditions, not him.

Eddie : Rob started playing after that. There was nothing particularly memorable about his performance.

Graham : I was quick to notice that Rob didn't use a guitar pick, but he wore one on a chain around his neck. Bonnie also picked up on this because she asked him about it afterwards.

Bonnie : [Sighs] I asked Rob about his necklace and he said he gave his daughter a matching one, hoping that she would find her way to music the same way he did.

Karen : That was when Bonnie got up and left.

Eddie : [Shrugs] I mean, the audition was over. I didn't think much of it at the time.

Warren : Karen went after Bonnie and I asked Rob if I could take a look at the necklace.

Graham : Warren had started asking Rob about his daughter. We found out he was originally from Illinois and he moved to California to pursue his dream ... leaving his family in Illinois.

Karen : When I walked into the living room, Bonnie was rooting through a small bag on the couch.

Bonnie : My inefficient jewellery bag in which every single piece of jewellery I owned was tangled together in a ball. I usually opted for rings for this reason.

Karen : I could see the guitar pick sticking out of the clump of silver. It was the exact same one Rob had.

Bonnie : [Shrugs] I had that necklace for so long, I didn't even remember where I had gotten from. I guess I found out after that.

Karen : I don't think any of us knew much about Bonnie's family at the time. I didn't even know if I should comfort her or celebrate. Did she want to see him at all? I mean, she didn't even recognise the man.

Bonnie : If I had the choice, would I have chosen to see my father for the first time at an audition where neither of us had even recognised each other? No. If it was up to me, I would've never seen him at all. It wasn't complicated, it wasn't a grey area, that man was never in my life and I saw no reason for him to be.

Graham : Bonnie and Karen came back out after Rob had left. Bonnie had a necklace just like Ron's in her hand.

Eddie : None of us knew what to say. Bonnie just started walking up the drive.

Karen : I followed her, but she stopped once she reached the gate. I stood a few feet behind her, wanting to give her space. We watched Rob walk down the street.

Bonnie : I doubt he recognised me, I would've been two when he left. It's not like in the movies where the parent and child that had been separated for so long just know. It was merely a coincidence that I hadn't left that necklace to rot back in Illinois.

Eddie : We caught up to them and watched Bonnie drop the necklace down the drain.

Graham : We were kind of waiting for Bonnie to break the silence with a joke or something.

Karen : Warren just walked over to Bonnie and wrapped his arms around her. I saw her starting to break, so I headed inside with Eddie and Graham.

Bonnie : [Sighs] There's only so much a person can take.

Warren : I didn't need to see her, I could feel her tears fall on my arms.

Bonnie : I noticed Warren's knuckle was bruised, but I didn't really think much of it.

Eddie : [Chuckles] We never said this to anyone, especially Bonnie, but as soon as Warren put the pieces together, he socked Rob square in the jaw and told him to get lost.

Warren : Luckily, Bonnie didn't want him to come back.

Bonnie : I don't think it would've made a difference if I had shown Rob the necklace. I didn't want him in my life, so he would've never been in it. If anything, I might have spared him the pain of knowing his daughter's name was going to be in the lights while his would be forgotten.